Amaravati, Jun 26 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday hailed Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s journey to the International Space Station (ISS) as a historic milestone and a proud moment for the nation.
Shukla and three other astronauts lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, US on board the Dragon spacecraft, powered by the Falcon-9 rocket for a 14-day stay at the ISS.
“This is a proud moment for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the IAF, and our nation,” said Naidu in a post on X, congratulating Shukla and highlighting the spirit of New India.
Naidu said that Shukla, an Indian Air Force (IAF) officer, became the first Indian astronaut to reach the ISS, flying aboard the Axiom-4 mission in collaboration with NASA and Axiom Space.
He also praised ISRO for initiating a new era of collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), involving five joint science investigations and two Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) experiments.
He extended his wishes to the entire Axiom-4 crew, calling their journey a symbol of India’s rising potential in global space research and an inspiration for generations to come.